Perceptions of responsibility for health literacy among health professionals and consumers

Ostini, Remo and Ostini, Jenny and Argall, Rosemary
(2016)
Perceptions of responsibility for health literacy among health professionals and consumers.
In: 14th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine: Behavioral Medicine: Making an Impact in the Modern World (ICBM 2016), 7-10 Dec 2016, Melbourne, Australia.

Abstract

Health literacy describes the capacity of people to manage their health needs by obtaining, understanding and using health information. Structured interviews were conducted with health care consumers and providers to identify their views on where responsibility for health literacy lies. Patients, doctors, other health professionals, society/government, and parents were all suggested as having responsibility for health literacy. Patients overwhelmingly ascribe responsibility to themselves while health professionals doubt patient capacity to meet the responsibility. Differences in the attribution of agency for health literacy have implications for health outcomes.